Nigerian Women’s Bobsled Team Makes Olympic History

It’s like Cool Runnings all over again! — But this time without the Hollywood Script. Three women have made history in becoming the first bobsled team from Nigeria to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Leading the pack is driver Seun Adigun and her teammates Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga. The bobsled team qualified in Canada after completing the fifth of the required five races. The team is the first African team to qualify in the bobsled category.Seun Adigun started a GoFundMe page in 2016 to get her and her teammates to the Olympics. They raised $75,000 and achieved their goal. Despite being from Nigeria, where’s there’s no knowledge of bobsledding, and living in Texas where the climate is warm, these women have proved they got game. They learned how to push a bobsled by practicing on a wooden tool named the “Maeflower.” All the members of the Nigerian bobsled team are former top-flight college sprinters with dual Nigerian-American citizenship. Adigun, who started it all, hopes that more Africans will be inspired by their story and try Winter Olympic sports. The three women say they want to be something that people can really be proud of. Make sure to cheer these three on as they make history and hopefully take home the gold medal on Feb. 20!